Yesterday I picked up a 07 sp 500 and have gone through the fluids today and decided to see how hard the pull start would be. notta! The rope pulled out with no engagement and had a hard time getting it to recoil. I could tell that at some point its either injested some water or had some heavy condensation from the color of the rope.(faint rust color) I believe it has more or less corroded enough that the internals are frozen and not engaging. No moisture present now. What would be the best thing to do for this situation and what do you guys think it could be. Granted I don't need the pull start but would like it there just in case.

 

I would pull the cover off and take a look at it, mine just broke also the metal dog that swings out and catches the fly wheel, broke out of the plastic housing and was bouncing around inside the cover and punched a hole in it. I would also pull the fly wheel off and make shure the stator is not caked full of mud. On your pull start handle there should be a c clip on the lower end of the handle that keeps tention were it seals on the cover to keep the mud and water out. Most of the people I ride with seals there pull start handles with some rtv.

 

I just pulled mine off for the same reason, about a shot glass full of rust colored water came out. My recoil was rope was wet to begin with and the recoil was sticking. I pulled it off, cleaned the pawl, springs, and housing with brake clean. Hit it with air quickly after to push all the water out and then greased everything. Once the rope dried and with it clean....pulls like a champ. I plan to seal the handle with some marine grade rvt after I put the recoil back on the machine and test it. I cleaned and lubed the starter bendix while I was in there too.

 

Silicon the rope handle in its place after you clean and dry everything out and get it working and you will never get mosture in the recoil again. There a $300 stator, pluse coil,bendix drive and flywheel you do not want to screw up inside there also.

 

do you guys silicone on the outside of the handle while in normal position or do you put some inside the handle and place it into normal position? Which do you recommend? I assume around the outside of the handle???

 

I smear it around the outside of the recoil rope hole nub, then slip the handle back over it . No silicon gets in the hole or on the rope that way. The silicon seal will just break lose if you ever need the pull start in a emergency.

All that seals the hole off from dirty water when stock is the metal ring around the rubber pull rope handle and it does a crappy job to say the least.

 

I got mine back together last night and workin good now. One thing that concerns me is if the stator may have been damaged. The fly wheel was rusted and there was a dirty film on the stator from what I could see using a light and mirror. I used electrical contact cleaner on all of it instead of brake cleaner just in case the brake cleaner might have been to harsh on the stator and wiring. Would it hurt to spray some silicon down in there to help protect against moisture??? I just tested the voltage output this evening and its was reading 11.9 off 12.15 at idle and climbed to 12.35-12.40 at about 1400-1500 rpm. Seems kinda low to me. Or would this be correct? I was expecting to see around 13-14 volts. Have'nt tested it at 3-4K to see if that makes a difference. I know with the lights on they are solid regardless rpm's (no fading) Also can someone clarify this for me. The service manual says somthing along the lines of/ (The regulator monitors the battery voltage and shuts off the rectifier when full charge exist on the battery. SCR are used to connect and disconnect the alternator from the battery to acheive regulation of the battery voltage) In lehmans terms does this mean that as long as the batt is charged and no load is present the regulator backs the voltage off to the battery?

 

No need to risk that, just do not let moisture get in the recoil again and you will be alright.

My manual says 13-14.6v at 4000 rpm.